Three hours later Serah and Scully were sitting at a small table in their little favourite hidey-hole restaurant. The sun was setting and Scully had been silent for quite some time. In the past few hours, she had managed to call her Mom and found that Melissa was going to ring her later tonight. Now Scully sat staring into space, waiting for her Watermelon, Olive and Feta Salad to arrive.

Serah was sitting there, staring at Scully while sipping her lemonade.

"Dana, you haven't spoken a word in 25 minutes?"

Scully turned towards Serah with a blank look on her face

"Just thinking". She wrapped her hand around her diet coke, absent-minded.

"Are you going to take him up on it?" Serah pushed.

Neither person needed to say who they were talking about. They both knew.

"I honestly don't know the answer to that question." She sighed and there was a small pause before she continued talking. "If I said no, would he continue to fail me with bad grades? If I said yes, what would happen then? Would we get caught? If so. Would I get expelled? Would we have a casual sexual relationship? I have so many questions and so few answers."

Serah stayed silent; she didn't know how to help, she didn't know what to say. She could physically see her friend's mind in turmoil. The waitress soon arrived with the food and they both fell back into silence.

**********************XXX

Later that night;

Serah had gone out to give Scully some privacy. Scully was laying on her bed, her back flat against her mattress, her legs crossed but straight, her mobile in her hand anxiously waiting for a call from her sister. An hour passed and she must've fallen asleep. Her phone started ringing. It only took a few rings but her mind was groggy, her eyes sleep ridden. She placed her hand near her ear.

"Hello?"

"Dana, it's Missy"

"Uhh Missy, do you know what time it is?" Scully rolled over and looked at her alarm clock. It read at 1.50 am. She groaned to herself. Placing her other hand to her eyes, she tried to rub the sleep out of them.

"Oh, shit. Sorry Dana, I forgot. See, its 9.50 am here." Missy sounded happy. Scully could hear the birds and traffic in the background.

"Where are you. anyway? It sounds busy"

"I'm in London! It's so fresh here, so vibrant. Things are so different. The weather… I can't even describe it. I love it so much, little sister."

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself." Scully sat up and looked around the room. She saw Serah's bed was made and unslept in. I wonder where Serah went. She looked down at herself realising she had fallen asleep in yesterday's clothes and they were rubbing against her skin. She was uncomfortable and sore.

"Dana, are you still there?"

"Humm, yeah sorry. I was lost in thought. I suppose"

"Mom said you wanted to talk to me about something" Melissa heard shuffling down the phone and wondered what her sister was up to.

"Uhh yeah. Give me a second." Melissa heard more shuffling before she heard her sister speak again. Scully sat back down on the bed, after undressing out of her jeans and into some blue silk short and spaghetti strap top. She climbed back into bed before picking the phone back up to her sister.

"I don't know where to start Missy. I feel like I am in a no-win situation, but saying that, I could experience some amazing benefits we could….. Oh, I don't know."

Missy could hear her sister rambling. "Dana, breathe. Just breathe and start from the beginning."

"I Don't have a beginning, I don't have a middle, I don't have an end."

"Dana. You're still not breathing. You're rambling. Please, just take a long breath." The other end of the line went quiet for a little bit, and she heard a deep inhale and then a deep exhale.

"Ok, Umm…. Well, there is a thing. Well, a proposition of sorts. It could go amazing, thrilling; an intense experience. A period in my life that I would never forget. But should I get caught, it could go very badly, I could get expelled or worse. And if Mom and Ahab found out, I don't even know what would happen." A lone tear fell down her cheek, she was tired and frustrated. She had only been at college for a little over a month and she had had enough already. All this confusion and frustration was taking a toll on her body.

"This proposition, as you put it, sounds like an amazing experience. You are so young, Dana. You need to live a little. If I did everything like Mom and Dad wanted I would not be moving around Europe or having the time of my life."

She heard Dana starting to protest.

"But I am not like you, Missy. You are so outgoing and free."

"Dana, you're so passionate, so controlling over your emotions. And in life, you need to be free and to be yourself. If this 'proposition' is as good as you say it is, I would say go for it. Just be careful and if anything should go awry, I am here for you, to either help you with Mom or Dad or with anything else that may go wrong."

"Thank you, Missy. I appreciate it." Scully yawned and got comfortable.

"I'm going to go, Dana. Now get some sleep." She listened and waited for a reply and all she heard was the soft snores of her sister down the phone. She smiled and hung up, glad to have put Dana's mind at ease.

***************XXX

Scully woke up when the sun was just starting to peek through the curtains. It was already incredibly warm, her body ached in protest from being up so early and having had a late night. She realised she was still clutching her mobile in her hand from talking to Melissa the previous night. She was so glad she had phoned her and put her mind at ease somewhat. But she was still apprehensive about the meeting later that day.

She looked at the time and realised she would normally have gone to the gym. But she wouldn't go today. She didn't want to see him, not before the meeting if she could afford it till later. It would make things less awkward, or so she hopped. She got off her bed and proceeded to the bathroom, intent on having a very hot shower to get ready for today's activities.

As the day dragged on, the more and more nervous she got. She tried concentrating on her lectures but her mind was clearly elsewhere. So, in the end, she gave up completely and went to Memorial Court. There weren't as many people as she thought there would be. She sat there for hours, watching the wind blowing flowers. Her senses were lit with so many different smells, hearing the grass rustle and sway, and people talking almost humming in the distance. She sat there and thought about some of the day's events.

She had met Sereh for lunch but something seemed off with her friend; the normally outgoing girl was shy and timid. She tried to push the subject but Serah shut her off completely. Instead, Serah changed the subject on to her, asking what she had talked about with her sister the previous night. Serah was happy that she had come to a decision and wanted to know all the details of it later.

The was starting to set, lighting the sky in reds, oranges and yellows, cascading in an illumination of light. Scully realised that the time had come to make her way to Mulder's office. It was now or never. She stood up and made her way there.

About ten minutes later she had arrived outside Mulder's office. She kept staring at the Gold Engraved nameplate hanging by the door: F. W. Mulder. She looked at it suspiciously because when he introduced himself, it certainly did not begin with an F. She looked upon his office door with its chestnut frame and mirrored frosted glass so no one could see into his office. She suspected this was for his benefit more than anyone else's. She lifted her right hand up, about to knock on the glass, but hesitated. Was she really prepared to do this? Something suddenly hit her: what if she had got this all wrong? What if he just wanted to talk about her bad grade? Before she could even think any further, the door opened on her hand still in the air.

Scully blushed and put her hand by her side. She willfully looked at the man in front of her. Starting from his shoes, working her way up his legs. The dark blue jeans hanging low on his hips. She licked her lips as her eyes worked up his chest where she saw a black T-shirt hugging his pecs and upper arms. She looked up and smiled at him, and the walked into his office.

Mulder stood there staring at Scully. She was beautiful. Her face was free of makeup, her hair down in small waves. She looked like a goddess. She smiled up at him and her eyes lit up. Those beautiful blue eyes will be the death of me, he thought. He could see every freckle and a slight red tinge on her skin from the sun. He smiled back at her and moved out the way for her to walk inside.

Scully moved into Mulder's office and sat down on the chair in front of his desk. She was nervous and excited. She heard the door click and looked around the room. Papers were spread over his desk. And there was a board with an "I Want to believe" poster on it, as well as a couple of pictures of him, a couple of years back, and a woman next to him, with long brunette hair and matching hazel eyes. She assumed it was his sister, the resemblance was uncanny. That's when she watched him sit on his leather chair behind his desk.

"Her name is Samantha. She's 28 and currently living in San Francisco."

"She's beautiful, she looks like you."

"Thank you she is a pain in my butt, but I love her."

Scully smiled sheepishly at him; her palms were clammy and sweaty but she was keeping a calm façade.

"Miss Scully, do you know the reason why you are here today?"

"I am assuming it has something to do with the grade on my paper, sir."

"Yes. you could say that. And no sir, please. Sir is my father, just call me Mulder." He was trying desperately to stay collected. Both for her and himself, but she was staying very calm about the situation.

"I can try harder."

"Well, what I propose is that you have some extra tutoring in my subject and see if we can get your marks higher."

"And what would you propose, Mulder?" She was playing naive; she wanted him to say the actual words.

"I'm sure you have heard the rumours, Miss Scully." Two can play at this game, he thought, actually quite thrilling to have someone challenge him.

"Dana, please. And yes I', well aware of the rumours." She smiled at him, he was being flirty with her, and she was enjoying it.

"I can confirm they are all true." He smiled back at her. A cute boyish charm he had about himself

"What would this entail exactly?"

Mulder shovelled some papers around his desk, moving his phone which currently he was using as a paperweight. He found what he was looking for and handed her the pieces of paper.

"I have a contract here which states what would be involved. What would happen if, say, we got caught. That's if you agreed," he suddenly could not face her eye's and went shy. And a small blush formed on his cheeks. "Take your time in giving me your answer," he quickly added.

Scully could tell he was shy about asking her, and by the impression of what he had been like with former partners, he was nothing but shy. She licked her lips and smiled at the prospect of her having this effect on him. She took the paper from him and their hands touched and lingered. They both felt the spark of electricity and the unspoken bond of intimacy the raw sexual desire between them. She brought her hand back, papers in hand and rested them in her lap.

"I have one question before you go."

"Go ahead."

"Do you believe in the existence of extraterrestrials?" He whispered the last few words eerily but seductively.

Scully Smiled in return and answered, "Logically, I would have to say no." Mulder nodded having expected this answer. "Given the distances needed to travel from the far reaches of space, the energy requirements would exceed a spacecraft's capabilities th—"

"Conventional wisdom" He interrupted her, winking at her, enjoying the banter between them. And he smiled at her before getting up, walking to the door, and holding it open for her.

She followed him to the door and glanced down at his well-formed ass. He turned around suddenly and caught her in the act. A very crimson red formed on her cheeks at being caught. She walked out of the office and just before he shut the door she said:

"Professor Mulder, I'm looking forward to working with you."

She quickly hurried down the hallway on the way to her dorm.